


the sun is still in the sky and shining above you

by HearJessRoar



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: 4k words of nothing happening ta da, F/M, Gen, canon pairings mostly just referenced this is pretty much friendship fic, listen there were apologies that needed to be stated and we were robbed of them, more like 4k words of everyone being nice to jane tbh, movie tag-the time between coronation and the celebration
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-01
Updated: 2020-05-01
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:55:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23938753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HearJessRoar/pseuds/HearJessRoar
Summary: Mal stuck out her tongue petulantly and reached for her brush. Evie turned back to Jane and was startled to see the younger girl's eyes brimming with tears.Apologies are made and soup spoons are chilled.
Relationships: Ben/Mal (Disney: Descendants), Doug/Evie (Disney: Descendants), Evie & Jane (Disney: Descendants), Jane/Carlos de Vil
Comments: 15
Kudos: 84





	the sun is still in the sky and shining above you

**Author's Note:**

> first movie needs closure and so this exists now bc i got mad about it. this is my gratuitous "being nice to jane" fic bc she's doing her best dammit
> 
> The ONLY way to encourage someone to keep writing is to leave a comment. Seriously. It's very disheartening to see the hit count go up and not have anybody say ANYTHING. I feel like I'm posting into the void.
> 
> Edit: If I continue to not get any feedback from this fandom I am going to assume that my work is unwanted and I will not post anything else here. That is not a threat; that is what will happen because this has really bummed me out and made me not want to continue my WIPs. It takes ten seconds to leave a comment. Less for a kudos. I can see the hit count, I know you're reading. It's not like I think I have the world's best writing but holy crap you know I do this for free, right?

Evie was fidgety. They had gone back to their rooms for the short duration between the Coronation and the celebration after, and now her hands were restless. She wanted desperately to sit down at her sewing machine, but she knew if she started a project she'd get so involved she'd miss the dance. And missing her first Auradon dance was absolutely _not happening._

Mal was in the middle of unpinning her carefully constructed updo, having dragged their full length mirror halfway across the room to her desk chair. Purple locks fell around her ears in uneven layers as several of the pins got stuck. Evie rolled her eyes as Mal continued to yank. She could have helped, but Mal could be so stubborn when it came to her hair, she probably would have declined the offer anyway.

She'd already taken off the longer outer skirt she had made specifically for the Coronation, and the shorter layers fluffed up around her on her bed. Mal's second outfit was hanging carelessly off her footboard.

A timid knock at the door startled them both. A stab of fear shot through Evie. What if they'd decided to send them back, and they just didn't want to cause a scene at Coronation? It wouldn't be becoming of a new king to renege on a promise in front of the whole kingdom like that, but to usher them quietly back home when nobody was looking?

She couldn't go back to her mother. She _wouldn't._

Mal sent her a pleading look through the mirror. She had one finger stuck fast in a snarl of hair, tangled around Ben's ring. Evie wasn't sure if the look was to help her, or to get the door.

She decided on the door.

Jane stood there, looking frightened and shameful. Evie blinked in surprise.

She was clearly uncomfortable, rubbing her hands together like she was trying to wash away her actions, and staring at the floor.

"Do you want to come in?"

Jane nodded silently, her shorter, natural hair swishing about her ears. Evie thought it looked rather pretty, honestly. The whole school had some sort of obsession with long hair, and it was starting to make her itch for a pair of scissors.

Evie let her in, and Mal acknowledged Jane in the mirror with a bob of her head. She'd somehow managed to get two fingers stuck in her hair now.

"I'm sorry." Jane murmured, so quietly that Evie nearly missed it. "That was all my fault."

Mal sighed, looking somber. Well, somber and ridiculous with her hair the way it was. Evie couldn't take it anymore and strode across the room to help. "Jane. I manipulated you into thinking like that. It was cruel," Mal bit her lip, looking ashamed. Evie was proud. "Which was sort of the point," she continued in a mumble.

Evie gripped the ring and practically yanked it off Mal's hand where it had gotten caught. Mal howled overdramatically. But it worked, and Mal's hair unsnarled almost immediately. Evie gave her a smug look and set Ben's ring down on Mal's desk with a decisive click. "Little tip; take off your rings before doing your hair."

Mal stuck out her tongue petulantly and reached for her brush. Evie turned back to Jane and was startled to see the younger girl's eyes brimming with tears.

"Oh no, honey, don't cry. You'll mess up your makeup," Evie fretted, rushing back over to comfort Jane. Jane sniffled.

Mal looked at a loss for what to do, her brush halfway to her hair. Nobody ever cried in front of them on the Isle; it would have been a weakness to be exploited. And Mal might have shed a few stress tears herself that day, but this was someone who was an outsider to their group. She couldn't handle this. Evie bit her lip.

She took Jane by the hand as tears started to eke down her face. "Hey, do you want me to do your hair for you?" Jane didn't answer, and Evie decided that was close enough to a yes. She gave Jane a little push to her desk chair so she could stand over her.

"M, can I have those?"

Mal leaned back to toss her a handful of hairpins. Evie even caught most of them. It had been a very long time since she'd worked with such short hair, but she would make do with it. First, that headband absolutely had to go. She dropped it disdainfully on her desk.

Carefully, she twisted the locks into a tight rolled plait, starting at Jane's crown and working downward and to the side. The hairstyle was a bit old fashioned, but she wanted to draw attention to Jane's eyes instead of her hair. It was clearly a sore spot for her.

Twist, pin, repeat. She clipped the bottom out of the way and started on the other side. Jane had tears dripping off her chin and onto her folded hands, but she sat perfectly still. Evie fished a small elastic out of the mess on her desk and tied the two ends together, rolling them up and tucking the ends underneath.

It wasn't her most elaborate work, but it was neat and it would stay. It just needed a little finishing touch. She tossed the discarded headband to Mal. “Can you fix that?”

Mal nodded, reaching for her spellbook and flipping through it. “Glamour spell? Why not. _Take the old and make it glimmer, give this band a brand new shimmer._ "

The blue ribbon seemed to ripple for a moment, before shrinking and growing paler. It glittered in the light and Mal handed her the new bow-shaped hair comb. Evie tucked it neatly into Jane’s hair, settled just on the crown of her head.

"Perfect," she said, squeezing Jane's shoulders in encouragement. "You're the fairest in the land."

Mal snorted, getting up to grab her dress. "You know that's hard for _her_ to say, Jane. Has to be true."

Jane didn't say anything. To be fair, Evie _was_ stretching the truth just a smidge; her eyes were red and puffy and her cheeks were blotchy. But those things were temporary and easily fixed. Besides, Jane looked like she wanted to talk to Mal. Probably about what she'd said on Parent's Day.

"I'm going to go chill some spoons for your eyes. Cool that redness right down. I'll be back," Evie promised, patting Jane on the shoulder.

As she closed the door, she nearly smacked straight into someone.

"Doug!" She gasped, startled. She pressed her hand to her collarbone, trying to calm down from the sudden fright. He looked just as surprised; his hand was still raised to knock on the door. He quickly brought it back down, looking sheepish.

"Hi,"

"Hi, yourself." She said cautiously. "What did you want?" It came out sounding much more waspish than she’d intended. But he'd hurt her feelings.

Doug looked like he wanted to crawl into a hole in the ground and die there, but he met her gaze steadily. That was impressive. She almost wished he’d avoid looking at her, though: His eyes were really distracting.

"I wanted to apologize. To you," he clarified. 

Evie ignored the fluttery feeling that had started taking off in her chest and scooted around him. She tipped up her face haughtily. "Well. I'm busy. Jane needs my help." With that she strode down the hall. 

Or she started to, anyway. The effect had kind of been ruined by the carpet dampening the click of her heels, and she couldn't help glancing back over her shoulder at him.

Doug looked miserable.

Evie sighed. She really was such a softie. She whipped back around, hands on her hips. "If you can walk and talk at the same time, you're welcome to come with me," she called. A peace offering.

Doug practically tripped over his own feet to catch up to her, and Evie fought down a smile. He really was very cute.

They fell into step and Evie prompted, "I'm listening,"

Doug scratched nervously at his arm. He was going to ruin his jacket, Evie thought to herself. That'd be a shame; she hadn't seen him wear this gorgeous deep red before, and she liked it quite a bit. It contrasted the green of his eyes. She forced herself to look in front of her instead.

"I shouldn't have given in so easily on Parents' Day. I should have stood up for you better, and I'm sorry."

Evie sighed through her nose. "You did try, I know you tried. Believe me, I know how hard it is to stand up to your friends." They rounded the corner that led to the communal kitchen. Evie held the door open for him. "Especially for people you barely know."

She dug through the silverware drawer, pulling out a pair of large soup spoons. Doug leaned against the kitchen island, watching her. She felt hyperaware of every move she made. She turned on the cold tap, and let it run over her hand. When it was cool enough that her fingers started to ache, she held the spoons under it.

“What are you doing, anyway?”

Evie shook off the water and pulled open the large refrigerator. She tucked them, bowl side up, into the door. “Chilled spoons for Jane’s eyes. She’s been crying, and the last thing she needs is for people to know that at the dance.” She threw him a meaningful look over her shoulder. Doug held his hands up in surrender.

“I won’t say a word. Jane is my friend.” he even mimed zipping his lips and _great,_ now she was staring at his mouth. She turned away, hoping against hope that she wasn’t blushing.

Having an actual crush was extremely inconvenient. Usually, she was the one people had crushes _on,_ not the one who got all….mushy. It was new, is all. She could play flirty and coy with the best of them, and often had, back on the Isle to get her way. But now she felt authentically flustered, and didn’t quite know what to do with herself. Disconcerting.

Evie stared at the counter by the fridge, noting all the nicks and scratches worn into it from years of use. Yes, this was extremely interesting, and she definitely couldn’t feel the back of her neck about to catch fire from the way Doug kept on looking at her from across the room. Oh, someone had carved a heart. How apropos.

“You know,” Doug said, sounding uncomfortable with how long she had been silent. He didn’t even seem to have been going anywhere with that sentence, judging by the way he trailed off uncertainly. She heard him huff. “I’m really bad at apologies, aren’t I.”

She smiled to herself, trailing a finger over that crooked carved heart. “Is that a statement or a question?”

“Statement. I didn’t even finish telling you I was sorry.”

Evie turned back around, pushing herself up to sit on the counter. Her dress fluttered around her in a royal blue puddle. “I _was_ wondering why you were so quick to help Chad when you told me he’s dumb as a box of rocks.”

Doug made a face. “Beeeeecaaaaaause he’s my friend, even though he can make me want to punch him in the nose for being a manipulative smug jerk,” pink crept into his cheeks and he looked away with a mumbled, “and I was trying to talk a very smart girl out of doing something very stupid.”

She propped her chin up with her palms, elbows on her thighs. “It _was_ stupid. I can’t believe he stole my mirror. That’s just low.”

“Trying to get you expelled gets a pass, but stealing your mirror is where you draw the line?”

Evie shook her head. “Doug, that mirror is _the_ mirror. As in, _magic mirror on the wall._ You of all people should understand _that._ ”

“No, I figured that out pretty quickly. What I didn’t understand is why you thought you needed it. You're so smart, why use it to cheat in the first place?"

Now she knew for sure she was blushing as she stared down at her feet. "I didn't want to be wrong." She forced herself to look up at him. The look on his face was indecipherable as she spoke. She just hoped it wasn’t pity. "It's hard enough being a VK here, I just didn't want my teachers to think it was okay to single me out, too. They're as bad as the students sometimes." She murmured, unable to hold his gaze anymore. 

She’d figured out the emotion he was feeling; heartbreak.

That wasn’t exactly a part of her vulnerabilities she had intended on sharing. How on earth had this boy managed to kick down all her walls in such a short time? She really was such a sucker for a pair of pretty eyes. Especially when those pretty eyes belonged to a boy who had believed in her brain over her beauty. She fidgeted, smoothing her dress over her knees unnecessarily. 

“Anyway, I shouldn’t have hit Chad with the knockout spray. That was too far, even if he is a jerk who stole my personal property,” she grumbled.

“The biggest jerk in the land, as I recall.”

Evie snorted. “I’m pretty proud of that one. I didn’t really know what the mirror would do. Sometimes I wonder how much of it tells the truth, and how much of it is just showing me what I want to see. Watch,” she tugged the mirror out of her pocket. The fact that she had the foresight to sew pockets into this dress made her feel more brilliant than any of the other designers in all of Auradon. She showed him the mirror, holding it with one hand and gesturing like a model with the other. “Magic mirror, tell me so, who’s the sweetest boy I know?” She regretted it immediately, but it had been the first thing she could think of on such short notice.

It conjured up an image of Doug, and the boy in question went beet red. Evie blushed harder herself. “See? But I was already thinking about you, so I don’t know how much of this is my own influence. Like, if my mother hadn’t already been thinking about Snow White, would it have shown her herself as usual? Could the whole story have been avoided?”

Doug crossed his arms, looking intrigued. Also, sheepishly pleased. "But it shows you absolute truths, too, doesn't it?"

Evie nodded, tucking the mirror away again. "It can find anything. Concrete facts. But when I ask something subjective, I think it just shows my own opinion back to me." She slid off the counter and took the spoons back out of the fridge. The cold metal nearly burned in her palms as she gestured to Doug that she was leaving the kitchen.

He followed her dutifully and fell into step in silence. The early evening sunset was streaming through the windows, washing everything out in hazy oranges and pinks. Out in the courtyard, she could see the strings of lights for the party flicker to life. The glowing yellow orbs contrasted against the setting sun.

She cleared her throat as her door came into view. "Hey, Doug?" The spoon handles gripped in her hands were digging into her fingers, but she was so nervous she barely felt them. He looked at her expectantly.

"Will you save me a dance?" She blurted.

"I'll save you every dance, if you want." He promised, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

She bit her lip, feeling inexplicably shy, and nodded. “I’d like that,”

And before she could embarrass herself any further in front of him, Evie gestured to the spoons. “I should get these to Jane.” she let her hand linger on the door handle, half hoping he’d stop her just for a moment longer, but he didn’t. Instead, Doug nodded in understanding.

“I’ll see you later?” he said hopefully, starting to walk backwards away from her. Evie smiled her answer, and reentered her room.

Jane had moved to sit on Mal’s bed and Mal herself was back at the mirror, looking gorgeous in her second lavender dress of the day. She had redone her hair while she was gone, and had clearly borrowed Evie's curling iron (without asking) to do so. Ben's ring glinted on Mal's finger, and Evie had to admit it was very sweet how protective her friend was over a little piece of jewelry.

Evie handed the spoons to Jane, who just looked confused. She huffed, and brought Jane’s hands up to hold the spoons over her eyes as the poor girl yelped from the cold.

“Who were you talking to outside?” Mal asked, raising an amused eyebrow at her through the mirror. Evie blushed again. At this rate, she was going to turn permanently pink. At least she wouldn’t have to worry about being pallid ever again.

“Doug, if you must know.”

“Ooh, _Doug,_ ” Mal teased, waggling both eyebrows. Evie rolled her eyes. Mal had already grilled her about him when she was done freaking out about her first date with Ben, and had come down from her panic long enough to realize that she’d interrupted something at the picnic tables. And she hadn’t let it go since. “Did he ask you to the dance?”

“Sort of,”

“And you said yes?”

“I hope you said yes,” Jane interrupted, looking very silly with two soup spoons pressed to her eyes. “Doug’s a great dancer. He’s usually the one who hangs out with me during formals. Also, he likes you a lot.”

“Technically I asked him and he’s the one who said yes.” Evie threw her hands into the air, flustered and embarrassed by the sudden interrogation. “Can we talk about something else? Jane, leave those on!” she snapped. Jane practically yipped, and put the metal back in place from where she'd lifted it.

Evie felt bad instantly, but Jane was far braver than she’d given her credit for; almost immediately, she asked, “How do you know so much about this stuff?”

Mal winced at the mirror and Evie sighed. “When your mother is obsessed with being the Fairest of Them All, you learn a few things. Like how to make it look like you definitely weren’t crying your eyes out.” she said primly. Jane didn’t follow that up with anything, though she looked like she wanted to ask something else.

"She's also an expert in all things related to blush," Mal said, clearly trying to lighten the mood.

"And lipstick. I'm really good with lipstick. Speaking of," Evie pulled her makeup kit out from under her bed. Various cosmetics clinked against each other as she shuffled through it. One of her eyeshadows had opened on its own and spread sparkly champagne tint all over her palm as she searched. Annoyed, she clicked it shut and scrubbed her hand across the rug to wipe it off. Finally, she found the tube she was looking for and held it aloft triumphantly. "Here, Jane. This isn't my shade, but it'll look fantastic on you."

Jane reached out blindly, one of the spoons falling to the bedspread. Evie clicked her tongue. "You can take those off now, they're probably not cold enough anymore." She did so, and Evie inspected her handiwork. 

The puffiness was mostly gone, and the red was starting to recede, but not fast enough to make it in time for the dance without a bit of intervention. Evie fished out her concealer from the depths of the case. Jane had warmer undertones to her skin than she did, but when it came to concealer it wouldn't matter so much. She twisted the lid off the little pot and began to daub under Jane's eyes with a brush. A bit of setting powder so the formula didn't crease during the night, and she was ready.

Well, almost.

"You don't wear mascara?" Evie asked, puzzled by the lack of black flakes on Jane's face. She'd figured that Jane must have been wearing some sort of high end Auradon brand of waterproof formula, but even the best cry-proof mascaras would flake a little bit. If it had been Evie who had cried, she'd have two inky stains on her cheeks. Jane shook her head.

"Mom doesn't approve of a lot of makeup," she murmured, fiddling with her hands again.

Evie was gobsmacked. She nearly shook Jane by the shoulders. "You aren't wearing mascara?! Jane, I'd kill for my lashes to look like yours naturally, what on earth?"

"Very Bambi," Mal agreed, looking envious herself. Jane blushed and stared down at her feet.

"You really think so?" She asked, sounding shy but pleased.

"I was going to offer you the new tube of Dark As Nightshade mascara I just bought, but forget it, you don't need it. I add any more length and you'll fly away just by batting your eyes."

She wasn't even remotely stretching the truth this time, and Jane needed to hear it. The poor girl clearly had self confidence issues. And all told, Evie really was a bit jealous.

So she was vain, sue her.

She gestured with the lipstick she'd picked out and Jane leaned forward so Evie could hold her chin steady as she dabbed the pretty rose color across Jane's bottom lip. In a perfect world, she would have the matching lipliner for this shade, but alas. It was a liquid lipstick anyway, it would have to do. She outlined Jane's cupid's bow for her and told her to press her lips together while she got a tissue to blot away the excess.

Mal was sitting twisted in her chair with her arms propped across the back to watch them. She gave Evie puppy dog eyes as Evie handed Jane the lipstick so she could reapply it later. “Evieeeeeee,” Mal whined, trying her best to sound pathetic. It fell on deaf ears. Evie gave her a withering look.

“You add any more makeup to what I’ve already put on you, and I’ll take your eyebrows off one hair at a time, Mal.” she warned. “I said I was going to give it to Jane, not you.”

Mal pouted and Evie stuck her tongue out at her. She popped open her lightest blush to swipe onto Jane's cheeks.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" she asked, carefully moving her face as little as possible while Evie applied the peachy color.

She clicked the compact shut. "I'm not, not really." 

"She just kinda does this," Mal gestured vaguely at the makeup kit. "when she's restless."

Giving Jane a final once over, Evie held out both hands to the younger girl to pull her to her feet. She reached behind her back for Mal’s hand. Mal groaned but she took it and let Evie tug her out of the chair. Gripping one of Jane’s hands and one of Mal’s, Evie held them aloft as the last rays of the sun disappeared behind the horizon. Their room was softly lit by the corner lamps, and she giggled as her excitement bubbled over, tugging both of them out the door. She would return the borrowed utensils later; for now, there were more important matters to attend to, like the fact that the first strains of music had begun to pulse in the distance.

“We’ve never been to a real dance,” Mal admitted. “Raging parties, yes. Semi formal, no.”

“I don’t think you’ve missed much, honestly.” Jane muttered, suddenly looking extremely green. Evie stopped short. They were only halfway down the hallway, and already Jane had regret written all over her face. If they didn’t get a move on, the boys would wonder where they’d gotten to, and call her selfish, but Evie had a full dance card she didn’t want to miss out on.

“Are you okay?”

Jane shook her head. Her eyes were alight with tears again. “They’re all gonna be so angry,” she murmured. “I’m scared.”

“Anyone says anything to you, we’ll beat them up,” said Jay, appearing as if summoned at Evie’s shoulder. Carlos was right behind him, nodding vigorously. They must have been waiting for them at their dorm door to have caught up so quickly. Evie dropped their hands to straighten Jay’s jacket. “You look nice, Jane.” he said, giving her a wink.

“Very pretty,” Carlos agreed, blushing.

Evie made a note of that particular reaction for further investigation. “Carlos and Jay will dance with you and if anybody so much as looks at you funny, Jay will smash their face in,” she promised. The boys nodded, looking very serious. Jane buried her face in her hands.

“You’re all too much,” she said, slightly muffled. Mal slung her arm around Jane’s shoulders.

“One of us now, you little rebel,” she teased, flicking the ruffles on Jane’s sleeve. “We’ll have you fitted for a leather jacket in no time.”

Jane peeked through her fingers at her, and brought her hands back down. She tilted her head in thought. “I know you’re kidding, but you think I could pull that off?”

Thoroughly distracted now, they managed to usher Jane down the rest of the hallway with discussions of whether or not a pink leather jacket would still be Isle Style, and she didn’t even seem to notice the faint music growing louder until they were actually outside. Mal broke away to look for Ben, swearing she’d be back to dance with them once she’d found him. Evie didn’t believe her for a second.

Despite their promise to stay with her, Jane ducked off, claiming she’d feel better on a nearby bench by herself until she felt ready to dance. Evie watched her go, biting the inside of her cheek. She turned to Carlos, who to her surprise, was also watching Jane leave them. She snapped her fingers in front of his nose, smirking knowingly and raising an eyebrow when he jumped. “Will you keep an eye on her? Make sure she doesn’t get too far into her own head?”

Carlos smiled shyly and nodded, looking back towards Jane. Before she could tease him further, there was a tentative tap to her shoulder. 

When she turned around, Doug was standing there. He bowed one of those formal bows that it seemed like they were a required skill in Auradon. Evie's heart thudded loudly in her own ears; it was the first time anyone had treated her like the princess she insisted she was since she’d gotten out of the limo.

She curtsied back, secretly proud she’d already known how to do it properly before they’d been chosen for the program. Mal’s court manners were sure to spark some nasty gossip at some point. He offered his arm and Evie took it gladly, allowing Doug to escort her to the dance floor already teeming with students.

“Is Jane okay?” he asked, spinning her. She spun him right back, grinning at his surprised look.

“As okay as she can be, I think. I asked Carlos to keep an eye on her.”

The pair in question went twirling by them and Evie laughed. “There they go.”

Awash with hazy muted colors, the courtyard looked simply magical. Far above them, the stars winked like so many pinpricks in dark velvet. A poppy, bubbly beat buzzed through the floor and reverberated in her ribs. All around her, classmates and friends blurred by in joyous flashes of glitter and satiny fabric.

And for the first time that she could remember, Evie felt content.


End file.
